Ant Pest Control problem...can't afford Exterminator

Hi y’all,I’ve got a major ant problem, I’ve taken a shot of hit here:I looked the darn things up on the internet and found these guys are carpenter ants. I’m trying to figure out how to do some DIY pest control and avoid using an exterminator, they just cost too much for me.Any ideas?

22 replies so far

I get ants almost every year, and what works for me is consistent laying out of different types of poisons you can purchase anywhere. Look in your local hardware type store and buy several types, liquids you apply to surfaces as well as the “trap” containers. They took about three years, but I have decimated their population. Ants live in the millions, so there will be no quick fix; but you can do it with consistent effort and constant application. Put the stuff where ever you see the crawling critters, and just leave it. They will snoop into it sooner or later, and will carry it back to the hive(s); the numbers drop, and sooner or later they will no longer be a pest. One last thing: I get them in great hoards every year as the weather turns to warm, and the birds I feed year ‘round feast on them! So feed the tweets and the tweets will pay you back, naturally.

I don’t have an ant problem but have serious cluster fly problems. I tried an exterminator but, as you noted, it was expensive and need to be done each year. I found http://doyourownpestcontrol.com. They have lots of information and sell some very good insecticides at a reasonable price. Rather than $200 to the exterminator each year I buy a bottle of insecticide and apply it with a garden sprayer. A $20 bottle of insecticide last me 4-5 years.

Believe it or not, I mixed baking soda and icing sugar, laid it out, and…ants are gone. I heard they take it back to the queen, she eats it and the baking soda kills her. Dunno if thats BS or not, but it seems to have worked.

We can’t use poisons, I have 2 cats and a daughter who is very sensitive to chemicals (she has ASD). Helps me be creative.

BTW I was told by pest control guys that the ants won’t pull your house down. They only eat wood that is damaged already, apparently. Could be true, may not be, too.

I never found the nest, but i spray around the house with a barrier type insecticide that is suposed to work for a month. It keeps them out all year long, or at least their roaming season :-))

If you go out in the middle of the night with a flash light, you can watch to see where they are going and try to follow them to their nest. Ours must be underground, possible under pavement by the street, but not sure.

-- Bob in WW ~ "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence

You will need to find the queen and kill her. Carpenter ants will make their home in moist/rotton wood. I can’t tell if that’s a window from the picture, but the nest is probably behind the siding. You will need to pull off the siding until you find it and then hit it with some poison.

The other thing about Carpenter Ants is as the colony matures it will send out new Queens looking to make another colony close by. The ants with the wings are new queens getting ready to leave the colony. Don’t be surprised if you will need to find more than one colony.

In my last house I had to track down 4 colonies to get rid of my ant problem. They were behind the window molding, behind the siding, at the corner of the house and in the tree 30 feet from the window. Good luck.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I heard that the ants don’t actually eat the wood, they just tunnel in it. Pretty much the same results though. They like moist wood to build their home.

Edit: I just wanted to add a little info about the Terro. It is a chemical. But if you use your brain, there are ways to put this stuff out where your pets or children won’t be able to get to it. Just put a few drops on a piece of foil and slide it in to a used up paper towel roll. There are others, just use your imagination.

I have eliminated a mound of ants in the lawn with Baking Soda and Vinegar. Sprinkle baking soda first, 1 hour later use vinegar to remove the “Scent” that the scout ants leave. I have had succesful results 3 different times.

FYI. I see that you have cedar shingles on the house. If you used tyvek as a house wrap it is best to have a air space behind the cedar and the housewrap. The ants are attracted to the rotting wood under the siding. Fix the source of the problem once or douse with chemicals etc every year.